Invicta Grammar school is an 11–18 selective girls’ school with a mixed a Sixth Form. With Valley Park School it is part of the Valley Invicta Academies Trust. There are 1251 students on roll, including 371 in the Sixth Form, with just under 3% of students eligible for free school meals.

Netbook Shelf, by Enokson http://www.flickr.com/photos/vblibrary/Describing itself as a networked school, ie one in which the staff has normalised the use of the digital in their everyday teaching and is collaborating authentically with parties outside the school walls and professional teachers in the teaching of the young, Invicta has established a system which ensures that each student has a device when and where they need it. However, and interestingly, this has not been achieved through a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) scheme alone, but through the development of what we might call an entire ecosystem of technology, developed over several years.

In Years 7 to 9, ie the first three years of the students’ school career, pupils can buy netbooks and laptops, either through the school, which also runs an e-Learning Foundation (ELF) scheme, or from another source. (The ELF scheme is one on which parents make donations to the charity and receive in return a supported loan device over a period of time.)

In Years 10-13, students can bring in their own device. In this context, “device” means a netbook or a laptop, not a smartphone. Whilst an i-Pad trial is underway, Apple devices are not yet fully supported.

It is difficult to measure the impact of the BYOD scheme because technology is so firmly embedded in the school’s life. All staff have laptops, and there are interactive whiteboards and projectors in every classroom. In addition, laptops can be borrowed by students if necessary. Moreover, the school’s virtual learning environment is available to students and staff 24/7 from home as well as school, and this contains all the resources used in lessons.

In reality, the BYOD scheme implemented by Invicta is a hybrid of school-supplied or specified technology for the younger students, and a true BYOD scheme, within certain limits, for the older ones.

The question arises, why have a 1-to-1 scheme given the fact that there is so much technology in the school already?

Carol Webb, Assistant Headteacher, explains:

“The versatility of having a tool in the classroom to use as and when it’s needed to support learning is a huge benefit. With the e-learning foundation scheme we are able to provide a loan device when the technology goes wrong and requires maintenance, which ensures that teaching and learning are not interrupted. Staff know that every student in Years 7-9 has reliable technology and can bring it to a lesson. This makes planning lessons easier.”

One thing which is clear from Invicta’s experience is that it’s crucial that the school’s educational vision, strategy and ethos supports such developments – they cannot happen in a vacuum.

However, there are practical challenges to be met in introducing a BYOD programme. Carol identifies the following crucial factors:

Senior Leadership Team support

Parental engagement

A strong ICT and ICT support team

Sustainable site-wide wireless access

Constant planning and evaluation.

So what’s next for Invicta? The school is looking into the possibility of using more web-based applications. With students able to have access to a device and to the school’s Virtual Learning Environment constantly, this makes a great deal of sense, and will only serve to embed technology in the life of the school even more deeply.

Life's too short to waste time going to the wrong conference talk. Here are 9 questions to ask to help decide whether or not to attend a talk given by a well-known speaker as opposed to an unknown teacher.

Why is it so hard to recruit teachers? I attended a Westminster Forum conference in the summer of 2016. This looked at the key issues of teacher shortages and professional development. This article contains my reflections on some aspects of the conference. It's not about ICT or Computing in particular, but given the acute shortage of Computing teachers it does, I think, provide some additional food for thought.

I've written and self-published a guide to getting the most out of education conferences -- including how to increase your chances of being allowed to attend in the first place. Find out more by clicking on the title of this post.

What are the 5 most viewed items on the ICT & Computing in Education website? To find out, I trawled through the archives and the data. The answer to that question surprised me. I wonder if it will surprise you as well.